(Reuters) -The Israeli military said it was conducting extensive strikes on Hamas targets in Gaza while medics there reported at least 30 people were killed in a series of the most violent air attacks since a ceasefire began on January 19.
A senior Hamas official accused Israel of unilaterally overturning the ceasefire agreement.
The Israeli army did not provide more details about the strikes but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office released a statement saying the military had been instructed to “take strong action against the Hamas terrorist organization”.
“This follows Hamas’s repeated refusal to release our hostages, as well as its rejection of all of the proposals it has received from U.S. Presidential Envoy Steve Witkoff and from the mediators,” the statement added.
“Israel will, from now on, act against Hamas with increasing military strength.”
Three houses were hit in Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza, a building in Gaza City, and targets in Khan Younis and Rafah, according to medics and witnesses.
The Palestinian civil emergency service said there were at least 35 airstrikes on Gaza.
The escalating violence comes amid disagreement between Israel and Hamas on how to sustain the three-phase ceasefire that began in January.
Arab mediators, backed by the United States haven’t been able to hammer out differences between the two warring parties in talks held over the past two weeks.
(Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi, Enas Alashray and Yomna Ehab; Writing by Enas Alashray and Stephen Coates; Editing by Christopher Cushing and Tom Hogue)
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